Fluid mixing and spatial geochemical variability in the Lost City
hydrothermal field chimneys
Abstract
Carbonate-brucite chimneys are a characteristic of low- to
moderate-temperature, ultramafic-hosted alkaline hydrothermal systems,
such as the Lost City hydrothermal field located on the Atlantis Massif
at 30°N near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These chimneys form as a result of
mixing between warm, serpentinization-derived vent fluids and cold
seawater. Previous work has documented the evolution in mineralogy and
geochemistry associated with the aging of the chimneys as hydrothermal
activity wanes. However, little is known about spatial heterogeneities
within and among actively venting chimneys. New mineralogical and
geochemical data (87Sr/86Sr and stable C, O, and clumped isotope)
indicate that brucite and calcite precipitate at elevated temperatures
in vent fluid-dominated domains in the interior of chimneys. Exterior
zones dominated by seawater are brucite-poor and aragonite is the main
carbonate mineral. Carbonates form mostly out of oxygen and clumped
isotope equilibrium due to rapid precipitation upon vent fluid-seawater
mixing. In contrast, the carbonates precipitate close to carbon isotope
equilibrium, with dissolved inorganic carbon in seawater as the dominant
carbon source, and have δ13C values within the range of marine
carbonates. Our data suggest that calcite is a primary mineral in the
active hydrothermal chimneys and does not exclusively form as a
replacement of aragonite during later alteration with seawater. Elevated
formation temperatures and lower 87Sr/86Sr relative to aragonite in the
same sample suggest that calcite may be the first carbonate mineral to
precipitate.